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O'Neal dismisses appeal for his resignation

House Speaker Mike O'Neal, R-Hutchinson, answers questions after Gov. Sam Brownback's State of the State address Wednesday in the House chambers at the Capitol.

House Speaker Mike O'Neal dismissed Monday as unjustified calls for his resignation in response to his use of Scripture to express optimism President Barack Obama would be denied a second term by voters in November.

"At last," O'Neal wrote in an email he received and passed to colleagues about Psalm 109, "I can honestly voice a Biblical prayer for our president."

Critics of the House Republican leader's application of Scripture, however, contend he inappropriately attempted to exploit the Bible for political advantage. They pointed to content of his email highlighting the phrase "let his days be few," which was interpreted as O'Neal's desire to have Obama suffer premature death.

More than 21,000 people signed an online petition at www.democracyinaction.org endorsing an appeal for O'Neal to voluntarily terminate his career in the Kansas Legislature.

O'Neal, of Hutchinson, said he forwarded to others content of an email with the verse from Psalms, which he said had referenced on the Internet and had appeared on T-shirts and bumper stickers.

"My sole intent was election commentary regarding the president's days in office and a desire for a new administration in November — nothing more," he said. "No one who knows me has assumed otherwise."

The speaker said he understood how people might misinterpret his sentiments. He said he respected the president and the office of the presidency.

Monty Shaw, director of Speak Out Kansas, said the annual observance of a day dedicated to the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., served as appropriate backdrop for evaluation of politicians who churn out rhetoric designed to energize their conservative, evangelical base.

"It seems to me a pattern with a lot of Republicans," Shaw said. "I don't expect him to resign. I think he should."

Shaw, who believes O'Neal's capacity to lead was compromised, said the organization handed out more than 800 fliers urging the speaker to step down to people attending a King rally in Wichita.

"By delivering such a divisive assertion, it appears Mr. O’Neal cares more about scoring political points than the health of our nation," Shaw said.

The petition created by the online organization Faithful America indicated people of faith shouldn’t use Scripture to justify the death of anyone. The text of the petition said "O'Neal's hateful use of Scripture is unacceptable and a disgrace to his office, and he should immediately resign."

In addition to the Scripture conflict, O'Neal recently brought attention to himself for sending to House Republicans an email that belittled first lady Michelle Obama. The text refers to "Mrs. YoMama" and compares her to the fictional character of the Grinch.

O'Neal apologized for sending along this email and said he passed it to colleagues without carefully reading the text.

Joan Wagnon, chairwoman of the Kansas Democratic Party, said the email about Michelle Obama was "highly offensive, disrespectful and unacceptable."

"Regardless of how he feels about President Obama's politics, speaker O'Neal's decision to promote language demeaning Mrs. Obama is simply wrong," Wagnon said.